Peripheral
by AshGurl2897
Summary: CompletedAbigail Cohen. As a Cohen, social life shouldn't really come naturally to her. But it does.
1. Default Chapter

AN: The idea for this story was a suggestion by a reader and I just thought it was a good one. I hope to write more of it. I'm also really hoping that I'm conveying the right emotions for her satisfaction, and that ever other person who may read this can enjoy it too.  
  
Abigail Cohen ran abruptly to her full length mirror. She carried with her, several outfits on hangers, and a bag of makeup. She compared the garments. What to choose, ' The red skirt with a white halter top, or maybe this cute jean mini and this tee?' The choices were virtually endless with her family's endless streams of cash. She decided on the white halter and the red shirt, and dressed.  
  
Music blared as she applied cosmetic after cosmetic. First a little foundation, then a little blush, some mascara, some sparkly eye shadow, and of course lipstick. She did a quick mirror check, turned off her radio and grabbed her purse. She made her way down the hallway, leaving behind her geometry homework. She glanced into Seth's room as she passed by. Stopping for a second, she saw him sitting on his bed reading. She knocked softly on the door.  
  
"Come in." Her geeky-cute brother replied, not really looking in her direction.  
  
"What's up?" She asked entering his room.  
  
"Nothing, just---you know---reading." He gave on of his patented confused looks. "Why?"  
  
"No reason, I was just wondering. I'm going out---didn't figure you'd wanna come."  
  
"Me? Go to a "pod-party?" He asked, genuinely confused as to why he'd ever even think of such a thing.  
  
"Yeah, you and Ryan could come. I bet Summer would be there." She added.  
  
"As much as the obvious value is, that I would actually breathe the same air as Summer Roberts, and be accepted---it's just really not what I want to do right now. You're entitled to do whatever you want. I don't see why you want to go to these parties anyways. You are my little sister. Barely fifteen and you dress like Christina Aguilera circa 2003. I love ya, Abby. But I don't wanna go out tonight." He took a deep breath as he finished his sentence.  
  
"Fine, have a good night." She replied turning and leaving. She wasn't really mad. Just confused as to why her brother hated the social scene so much. She clomped down the stairs in her latest chunky heels, and out to the waiting ride of one of her friends.  
  
Back inside the house, Seth is back into his second read through of the latest comic. Don't misunderstand. Abby and Seth were pretty close. It's just the whole social thing they disagreed on. She was a media whore and he was a media rebel. Another set of footsteps coming up the steps alerted him. There was once again a knock on the door. Ryan entered the room.  
  
"What's up?" He asked. "Nothing, Abby's off at some party and the parentals are off somewhere. I was just reading the latest issue again." He held up the comic. Ryan nodded his head.  
  
"So a party, huh?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Not you too. Are you seriously considering this? We've been to these parties before. Do you not remember what happened at the last one? People got shot my friend, people got shot."  
  
"But Summer's gonna be there."  
  
"Could everyone just get off me about that? I mean what about Anna? Has everyone failed to notice how irresistible I am to that girl? This isn't about me. This is about Marissa---isn't it?" He began to smile.  
  
"Umm, Anna is gone in case you haven't noticed, but whatever you wanna think, go right ahead." Ryan raised his hands in surrender. "So are we going or not?" Seth threw down his comic, grabbed a sweatshirt jacket, and conceded.  
  
"All right, let's go. But I'm only going to watch Abby." Ryan nodded once more and the two headed out the door.  
  
------  
  
They could hear the party from a block and a half away. So there was no trouble in finding it. Seth parked the beamer, and the two outsiders walked up to the door and into a world relatively unexplored for both of them.  
  
Entering the doorway was like pressing play on a commercial for Abercrombie. Teens of all ages bouncing and mingling to the harsh, bass filled sounds of some indistinct rock group.  
  
Marissa Cooper was sitting alone, sipping something out a plastic cup. She perked up at the sight of her two friends. She approached.  
  
"Hey you guys, what are you doing here?" She asked flashing a smile Ryan's way.  
  
"We just---ya know---came to check out the party." Ryan replied coolly. Marissa almost spit out her drink in a stifled laugh. Seth nodded at Ryan's remark.  
  
"Just didn't expect you after---you know. Whatever, you want a drink?" She asked. Seth nodded a no.  
  
"Sure." Ryan replied. She grabbed his hand and led him away. Seth made his way through the crowd, getting the usual looks. His search for Abigail ended as he came to a clearing and saw her. She was bumping and grinding with some random pod-guy. That was a sight he never wanted to see. 


	2. Moments We Want To Forget

Seth began hyperventilating. Disturbed by the sight he'd just witnessed he made his way the other direction. It's too late though. Abigail had seen him. She stopped "dancing" and rushed through the crowd to catch up with him.  
  
"Seth! What are you doing here?" She asked as she grabbed his shoulder. He turned abruptly looking down at her slightly.  
  
"You asked me to come, didn't you?" He asked confused and distressed.  
  
"Yeah, but you said no. You said you didn't want to hang out with these--- "pod people", as you called them." She made air quotes and gestured a bit with her hands.  
  
"Well, Ryan convinced me. And plus, I came to watch out for you. Then I see you dancing like a cheap hooker. I can't watch that."  
  
"Ryan's here?" She asked very interested.  
  
"Yes, he's over talking with Marissa. And unfortunately I'm gonna have to go disappoint him, by telling him that I'm leaving." He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and walked over to the counter where Ryan and Marissa were talking. Abby followed him.  
  
-----  
  
"So, I didn't expect to see you here." Marissa smiled. Ryan just kind of stared back like he always did, deep in contemplation.  
  
"Well, Abby mentioned this to Seth and then we talked about it. And you know how much I hate to miss a chance to be shunned." His sarcasm was not lost on her. They sipped their drinks. Luke was no doubt waiting around some corner to pounce on him, but he didn't care right now.  
  
"Ryan. Buddy, I'm sorry. But we need to vamanos." Seth set down his keys on the counter.  
  
"Why? I'm just having a conversation here. Can't you wait a while?" He replied. Seth began talking with his hands, explaining the whole situation with Abby. Meanwhile, Abby had tuned out her brothers' ramblings and quietly grabbed the keys from the counter.  
  
She left the three friends, and headed out to the beamer. She'd just gotten her permit a few weeks ago, and she'd been out a few times. She was good enough to drive home.  
  
-----  
  
"Fine, let's go." Ryan caved. "I'll see you later, Marissa."  
  
"Great!" Seth replied putting his hand down to grab his keys. He was stunned to find they were not there. "Where are my keys?" He asked.  
  
"Ah---Abby took them a few minutes ago." Marissa replied taking another sip out of her cup.  
  
"What? Oh crap! Come on Ryan." He turned and rushed his way through the crowd again. He made it to the curb just in time to see Abby heading down the street in the beamer. They didn't see her in action for long, because with in a few seconds the harsh sound of metal on metal echoed through the air. Seth threw a glance at Ryan and they both ran headlong towards the beamer.  
  
-----  
  
"Abby! Are you okay?" Seth opened the driver's door. She had hit her head on the steering wheel and her head was bleeding a little bit.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." She touched her forehead, and noticed the blood. "Oh no!" She screamed.  
  
"Abby, its okay. You're fine. Come on. Get out of the car." She obeyed Seth's instructions. He looked at Ryan. "Will you drive us home?" He nodded. Seth and Abby sat in the back, and he used a towel to stop her head from bleeding. He tried to console her about running the car into the tree. He couldn't imagine why she'd done that. All he knew is that he had to take the rap for it.  
  
----- 


	3. Happily Confused

"Seth! What were you thinking? Taking your sister to some party, and then you run the car into a post somewhere? Where was your head?" Sandy Cohen was perplexed as to how his son could do such a thing.  
  
"I guess---I don't know. I guess I just caught up in the moment, Dad." Seth really didn't know what to say.  
  
"You know your sister is way too young for parties like that. And I thought you were a more responsible driver than that. This is disappointing" Sandy finished.  
  
"How could you just hit a pole, Seth?" His mother asked.  
  
"Ah---well, you see that's a very good question. And---the simple answer is that---um, well, a deer jumped out in front of me." Abby knew that her parents wouldn't even fall for that one.  
  
"And somehow you came away unhurt?" Sandy pressed further.  
  
"Yeah, so what?" Seth replied.  
  
"You're sister has a cut on her head, and you aren't hurt a bit." Kirsten began connecting the dots.  
  
"She wasn't wearing her seatbelt. I was." Seth tried to save Abby. It didn't work.  
  
"Abby, were you driving?" Sandy asked turned to his daughter. His voice was serious. She stood with her arms crossed in a defensive position. Soon she cracked.  
  
"I'm sorry, Dad. I don't know what I was doing. I didn't mean to---."  
  
"Abigail. You know we can't just let you get away with this, right? The car can be fixed easy enough, but it's the principal. You're grounded for a month starting now, and that means no phone or internet as well. Got it?" She nodded signifying that she understood. "Now go upstairs." She did as she was told, and Kirsten went off to make a phone call.  
  
"Why did you try to cover for her?" Sandy looked at Seth. His son had his hands in his pockets. He looked vulnerable.  
  
"I didn't want her to get in trouble. She was already in enough pain from doing what she did. Those kinds of things can have extreme psychological effects on a kid. I've read about them." Seth replied.  
  
"Really? Well, it was nice of you to do. But don't ever lie to me again."  
  
"Gotcha, don't lie. Does that include stuff like telling you something looks good on you, when it really doesn't?"  
  
"Seth!"  
  
"Sorry. Just thought I'd ask. Don't have to get all PMS on me." Seth grabbed a soda from the fridge, and walked upstairs. Sandy rolled his eyes. Kirsten emerged now, and Sandy approached her. He wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"What is wrong with our kids? Abigail used to be so good."  
  
"I know. But I guess they just grow up. I'm sure our parents though the same of us." Sandy began kissing her.  
  
"I guess. So what do you want to do, now that the kids are all in bed?" Sandy asked.  
  
"I don't know. I have some contractor stuff to sort out though." She kissed his lips and laughed a little. "I suppose it can wait though." She took his hand and the two went upstairs.  
  
-----  
  
Abby sat on her bed, with her legs curled up, pen and journal in hand. She dated the top of the first empty page, and began to write.  
  
Dear Journal,  
Today, I stole a car. Well, not exactly but I did wreck a car. I took the keys from Seth at the party tonight, and I tried to drive home. That didn't exactly work. I kinda hit a pole. But Seth and Ryan were there to rescue me. Ryan drove us home, and Seth fussed over me. Brothers can be so annoying sometimes. Ryan looked really cute today. He had on his usual tank top, but another shirt over it. It was blue I think. He did something with his hair too. He needs to forget Marissa, she's never gonna go for him. Luke's never gonna let her. But, whatever.  
  
So school was crap as usual. My math teacher told me that if I didn't start working I'd fail this term. Report cards come out in a few weeks. Who has time for homework though? And in class all they do is drone on endlessly. I could do all the stuff, but it's just so boring. Who cares?  
  
Well, Goodnight!  
  
Abigail Cohen.  
  
-----  
  
A pebble bounced off of Seth's window and he woke from a light sleep. He'd dozed off reading again. He walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain. He looked down to see a blonde speck.  
  
"Can Seth come out and play?" A familiar voice asked. He knew immediately who it was and took off like a rocket down the stairs. He came bounding down the driveway, like an elated five year old. He rounded the corner. There stood Anna Stern. "Long time no see, Cohen."  
  
"Yeah---yeah, the same." He stuttered. "Where have you been? You said you'd come back when school started?" She smiled noting that he'd missed her.  
  
"Well, my family went on this big travel kick, and I ended up going to the Caribbean for a bit. I'm back now though." She smiled. He smiled. They smiled at each other, not really sure what to say.  
  
"Well, it's really great that you're---", his words were cut short as Anna moved a few steps closer and kissed him. Not just a peck, but a kiss, a real kiss. She moved closer and put her arms around his neck. Surprised, pleasantly, although surprised nonetheless, he wrapped his arms around her waist. It lasted but a moment, but it was electric. She stepped back and smiled.  
  
"I missed you, Cohen." She turned and walked of in the direction she had come from.  
  
Seth stood there. If he were a cartoon character, his jaw would be on the ground. Wow. Anna Stern was back. The girl really knew how to make a reemergence.  
  
----- 


	4. Pain

Abby woke up the next morning and her head hurt so much that it felt like a semi drove at her face. She instinctively reached up to touch the gash on her head. It wasn't really that bad of a gash, maybe not even a gash. Cut would be a better term. Nonetheless it felt like it had before. She got up out of bed, and padded her way down the hall to the bathroom.  
  
When she got there, she discovered the door was locked and she could hear the shower running.  
  
"Seth! Get out, now. You are such a bathroom hog. You are always in there when I need something. How long does it take to shower anyway?" She pounded on the door. The sound of the water stopped.  
  
"Actually, I counted once and it takes me seventeen minutes and thirty seconds, give or take a second or two." Seth emerged not from the bathroom, but from his room. "That's about 2.5 minutes more than the usual man." He smiled.  
  
"If you're not in there, then who is?" She pointed at the door and blushed. Her question was answered as Ryan opened the door to the bathroom.  
  
"Sorry," Was his only reply. She became so flushed now that she ran into the bathroom and shut the door. She popped some pills into her mouth, and washed them down with some water. She didn't want to go out there yet because Ryan was probably still there. What was she gonna do? She decided to take a shower.  
  
-----  
  
Saturday afternoon was lazy as usual at the Cohen house. Seth sat on the couch reading the latest issue of some random "graphic novel." Abby was making herself some lunch. She grabbed a few carrots and a little vegetable dip, and plopped them on the side of her whole wheat ham sandwich. She grabbed flavored water from the fridge and sat down on the couch across from Seth.  
  
"What'cha reading?" She asked gnawing on a carrot. He looked up a little disoriented.  
  
"Just a "comic book", as you heathen folk like to call them. Why?"  
  
"I was just wondering. Can't a girl be interested in her brother's life?"  
  
"Well, I suppose. But as siblings go, we've never been very um---Mary Kate and Ashley, if you know what I mean?"  
  
"Well, maybe not that much, but we are pretty good, right?"  
  
"Sure." He smiled. "We've had some good times?"  
  
"So I was thinking, there is this party tonight---I kinda wanna go. But I need your help getting out of the house. You could either actually come, or you could just say we are going to see an IMAX." She casually took a bit of her sandwich.  
  
"You actually think I'm going to help you get out of here? You shouldn't be out anywhere with that injury you sustained the last time we were out. You are trippin' if you think I'm gonna assist you in that little scheme." He buried his head back in the "graphic novel."  
  
"I'm trippin'? What are you the next eminem?"  
  
"I'm just tryin' to use some lingo to spice things up a bit, so sue me." He made a face at her. "Besides, Mom and Dad would never let me take you anywhere right now."  
  
"So you won't help me?"  
  
"No." He replied.  
  
"Fine. I'll just stay home and be bored all night."  
  
"Have a good time!" Seth replied as she stormed off.  
  
-----  
  
Dressed in her newest outfit and all painted up, Abigail threw a handful of aspirin down her throat and climbed clumsily out the bathroom window.  
  
-----  
  
"Dude, what do you wanna do?"  
  
"I don't know." Ryan answered. Seth and Ryan sat very bored in the living room of the Cohen's home.  
  
-----  
  
Abigail casually chatted with the people at the party. She was younger than most of them, but that didn't bother her. She enjoyed the party life, and nothing was gonna stop her from that. Not her age difference, not Seth, not her parents, and not some stupid headache.  
  
"So what's up, Summer?" She asked approaching the girl.  
  
"Nothing, good party?"  
  
"Yeah, it's good."  
  
"What is with that nasty gash on your forehead?" Summer asked in disgust. Just then Seth showed up.  
  
"Hey Abby," he started and then "casually" noticed Summer. "Oh, hey Summer. Enjoying the party?"  
  
"Who is this, Abby?" She pointed to Seth.  
  
"Ah---Seth is my brother. You know. Seth Cohen?" Abby was sick of her ignoring Seth.  
  
"Oh. Whatever."  
  
"You know what---I'm feeling kind of dizzy. I'm just gonna sit down for a -- -" With those words, Abby began her descent to the floor. Summer screamed and Seth caught her just barely in his arms.  
  
"Abby. Abby! Can you hear me?" Seth yelled at her. There was no response. He looked up at Summer. "Call 9-1-1!" Summer looked freaked, but pulled out her cell phone and dialed.  
  
-----  
  
"How do you think she is?"  
  
"I'm not sure, Summer." Summer looked down at the floor. "You know you don't have to stay."  
  
"I know." Summer replied. The two sat a seat apart in the hospital waiting room. Their parents had been called, and now the only thing left to do was wait.  
  
----- 


	5. Old Memories, and New Beginnings

"How are you feeling, Abby?"  
  
Seth sat down softly in the chair next to his sisters' hospital bed. He looked at her attentively. If there was one thing that Seth had taught her about life, it was that people's eyes were windows to their soul. She could sense fear and sadness in his eyes. She was still a little woozy from the medication they had given her.  
  
"I'm fine, Seth." She smiled weakly. He didn't seem convinced.  
  
"So I picked this up for you at the gift shop." He held up a stuffed monkey that held a red heart which read, "Get Well Soon".  
  
"Oh, it's cute. But I stopped collecting those a long time ago. You know that."  
  
"I know, but it just reminded me of when we were younger and things were easier. I remember almost every weekend you'd come home with a new stuffed animal. And for your twelfth birthday I bought you Senior Stripy-pants. You loved that crazy pantaloon elephant. We used to have fun like that. What happened?"  
  
"I grew up. Things change, Seth." She answered matter-of-factly.  
  
"I know, but sometimes I wish my little sister would not be so---not little."  
  
"I think maybe I can add him to the collection; just this one." She pointed at the monkey he held. He smiled and handed the marsupial to her. "Thanks Seth."  
  
"You're welcome, Abby. I love you." He stood up, and bent over the bed giving her a gentle hug. "I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
"Bye, Seth." She replied smiling as he left. Her parents were waiting outside the door and entered as he left.  
  
-----  
  
"So how is she?"  
  
"She's okay, Summer. The doctors said it was a concussion. She got in when she got into the accident in the car, and they didn't notice it. She'll be fine though with some rest. She's gonna stay her till tomorrow though." For once Summer actually showed so emotion other than disgust. She looked relieved and Seth was surprised to see it. "Were you guy's really good friends?" He asked.  
  
"I don't know. We were okay. It's sort of a long story." Summer replied.  
  
"Listen, do you maybe want to go get a--- a cup of coffee? Unless you have something else to do, then go ahead." He asked.  
  
"Ah---no I don't have anywhere to be. I guess we can get a cup of coffee. Sure." Summer smiled a little. What was she doing? She was getting coffee with Cohen---willingly? He's sad about his sister. She told herself that that was why she was doing it. Think of it as charity.  
  
-----  
  
"Abby, are you all right?" Her father asked in his usual tone.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." She replied.  
  
"Good. Because what I'm gonna say to you isn't gonna be easy to hear." He looked at his wife. She nodded in disapproval. He continued anyway. "Abby, what's going on with you lately? You've been sneaking off to parties, stealing cars and hurting yourself whether it was intentional or unintentional is beside the point. Ryan barely got into this much trouble. The only thing he's done that you haven't is burn down a house. And on top of it all your school work is slipping significantly. Do you mind explaining yourself?"  
  
"I don't really wanna talk about it." She replied crossing her arms.  
  
"See, that's what I'm talking about. My sweet little daughter is gone." Sandy replied exasperated.  
  
"Well maybe if you paid a little bit more attention to your kids, instead of your job so much, I wouldn't have to go get drunk and party all the time." Sandy was taken aback. They were both silent. "I'm sorry, Dad. Really, I don't know what's been going on lately, but these people are my friends. It seems like I've been getting into trouble a lot lately, but really I've been hanging out with these people since I was like twelve. I guess it just caught up with me. If it means so much to you, I can not hang out with them for a while at least."  
  
"You are way too young to be going to these parties, you know that. Now, promise me you are gonna focus on school. You are a bright young girl, especially when you apply yourself." Sandy touched his daughters face. "I just don't wanna see you ruin your life. Trust me; I've seen enough of those kids."  
  
"I'll focus, Dad." She nodded.  
  
"We're glad you're all right, sweetie." Kirsten added. "We'll see you in the morning, okay?" Abby nodded. Her parents were leaving her alone again. Well at least she had the T.V.  
  
-----  
  
"So there's a long story about my sister and you?" Seth asked handing Summer her cup of java.  
  
"Well, I don't remember you know, exactly where I met her, but somehow for the past few years she's just been there. I had no idea she was your sister."  
  
"Just figured the major resemblance and last name similarities were a fluke accident?" He asked sarcastically.  
  
"Till a few months ago, I hardly knew what your name was. Now I use it only when I have to."  
  
"I have noticed that." He replied. "So why are you bumming around with me, when you could be sunbathing on the beach, Summer?" He asked taking a sip of his coffee. She wondered that herself.  
  
"You want the truth?" She asked.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"I feel sorry for you. I mean you are such a loner and now all this stuff is happening to your sister. It kinda sucks."  
  
"So pity dating. I can deal with that." He smiled a little. She noticed. He was kind of cute in a stupid, dopey sort of way when he smiled.  
  
-----  
  
There was a knock on the door, which woke Abby from her nap. The T.V. was roaring some infomercial, and she turned it off quickly.  
  
"Come in." She replied. The door opened slightly and Ryan slowly entered. He walked to her bed. She was surprised to say the least and fiddled with her hair nervously. After a great deal of time, he decided to speak.  
  
"I know that I haven't gotten to know you as well as Seth, and seeing as I haven't been her that long, I suppose I shouldn't feel obligated to do this, but I thought I'd come and see you since I guess we're sorta related-- -but not really." He fumbled with his words.  
  
"Ah---it's quite a surprise." She replied smiling.  
  
"So---ah---how are you?" He glanced down at the bed, and back up at her.  
  
----- 


	6. The Way It Should and Shouldn't Be

"That's very nice, Miss Cohen." The math teacher handed her the test she'd taken a week ago. She looked down on the white paper, afraid of what the red ink would say. To her surprise, it read in capital letters, "A". She smiled a little bit, just letting it sink in. It'd been a long time since she'd gotten a good grade. It'd been a long time since she tried her best at anything. She forgot how wonderful it felt.  
  
The rest of the day flew past like a flash. She walked from class to class at Harbor School, actually enjoying it. The final bell surprised her, as everyone else in the class gathered their things and left in a hurry. American Literature was her last class, and her teacher had his eye on her. He'd noticed her grade increase in the last few weeks too. She just sat there for a second, and he approached her desk.  
  
"Abigail? Can I talk to you?" She nodded in response. "I have noticed that you've been putting more effort into all your work lately and I'd like to tell you you've been doing a great job. You have such potential, and it's good to see you use it. I was wondering if you'd like to join the yearbook committee. Would that interest you?" He gave her a thoughtful look.  
  
"I---I guess. I mean, it could be fun. When do you meet?" She responded.  
  
"We meet right here, every Thursday, at 3:15. So you have about 5 minutes 'till the meeting starts." He smiled. "Okay?"  
  
"Sure, I'll just sit here and do some homework." She smiled back.  
  
-----  
  
Summer grabbed all of her stuff and rushed out the door, throwing her purse up over her shoulder and pushing a piece of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Stupid, Mr. Johnson. Biology this, advanced chemistry that. If you want to get into a good college you need to focus on your studies, summer."  
  
She imitated his voice. She was not having a good day. She shuffled some books around in her arms as she made her way into the ladies room. Slamming her stuff down on the counter she ranted at herself as she reapplied her mascara, lipstick and eye shadow.  
  
"Stupid teachers make me stay after when I could be on my way to a party. Who do they think they are? I can handle my own life." She fumed and grabbed her books again, slamming open the swinging door. Making her way away from the school, she fished for her keys. She heard hurried footsteps behind her, but didn't stop to see what they were. Abby ran up beside her.  
  
"Summer, hey! What's up?" Abby asked.  
  
"Not much, just stayed after a bit. How about you?" Summer fiddled with her keys in the door.  
  
"I started yearbook committee today, so I stayed after."  
  
"Oh cool. Really sorry, but I kind of have to go." Summer said unenthusiastically.  
  
"Well---I was hoping I could maybe get a ride home. I tried calling my parents and Seth but none of them would answer." Summer sighed.  
  
"I guess so. You are kind of on my way. Hop in." She motioned to the other side of the car. Abby smiled.  
  
On the drive home, Abby was silent. Summer broke this lack of speech.  
  
"So, I haven't seen you around at any of the parties lately. Where have you been?"  
  
"I've been around. I've been trying to do some stuff at school lately. I actually haven't been to a party in quite a while." Her answer was monotone.  
  
"You aren't gonna be like your brother now, are you? All nerdy and caring about the educational parts of school?"  
  
"I don't know." Abby shrugged.  
  
"Well, here it is. See ya later." Summer added as she pulled up.  
  
"Thanks, Summer." Abby replied, waving and shutting the door.  
  
-----  
  
She expected to find an empty house as she turned the key in the door. But instead, Abby was greeted by the delicious scent of macaroni and cheese. She dropped her books at the door and hurried to the kitchen where she found Seth making the cheesy delight.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked a little dismayed. He turned to her noticing her presence. He kind of waved and began to talk.  
  
"Mom and Dad had to work late, so they aren't coming home again. I figured you needed a good home cooked meal. It'll be ready in a minute or two." He smiled.  
  
"Okay." She pulled out a chair from the dinner table. Soon he returned with two bowls of the food.  
  
"I know I'm not Chef Emeril, but I hope it tastes okay." Abby was silent as she took the first few bites.  
  
"It's good." She nodded. He looked relieved and continued eating.  
  
"So, how was school?" He asked. He wasn't very good at this whole 'adult' thing.  
  
"It was good actually. I joined the yearbook."  
  
"Really, that's cool. I took some pictures for them last year." There was a silence that filled the room. "So, I noticed you haven't been going to any parties, and it seems like you are studying."  
  
"Yeah, I talked with Summer about that today."  
  
"You talked to Summer today?" He stammered.  
  
"Yeah, she gave me a ride home because my big brother and my parents were unreachable." She said a bit harshly.  
  
"I was here all afternoon."  
  
"Well, you didn't answer the phone, did you?" She seemed overly angry to Seth.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't hear the phone ring. I was probably listening to Death Cab. You know how I like my Death Cab."  
  
"Yeah, whatever." She stared straight down at her bowl and picked at her food.  
  
"Is there something else, Abby?"  
  
"No---no." She responded.  
  
"Are you sure? This act is not convincing anyone." He attempted to get her to tell him. After a long pause she sighed and put down her fork.  
  
"What's up with Mom and Dad lately? They are never here anymore. They are always out at work, or some function. They don't pay attention to us. You have to cook macaroni and baby-sit your little sister. When they are here, they don't even care. I've been working my butt off in school, and neither of them seems to notice."  
  
"Abby, I don't know what's going on with them, but I don't think of it as baby-sitting you. You are certainly old enough to take care of yourself. I want to spend time with you. Especially, lately. You've changed."  
  
"Yeah, well if Mom and Dad don't even notice, what's the point?"  
  
"You shouldn't do thing to get the credit for them, you should do them because it is the right thing to do; the right thing for your future. You know you can always talk to me too." He replied.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." She faked a smile.  
  
"You wanna watch a movie?" Seth asked taking her dirty dishes and throwing them in the sink.  
  
"Sure. What do you wanna see?" She asked trying to be more pleasant. He walked over to the wooden DVD cabinet and scanned the alphabetized selection.  
  
"How about this one?" He asked as he held up a box.  
  
"That looks good." She smiled, but more genuinely. It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown. She chuckled a bit at his choice. She didn't understand what Summer thought was so repulsive about him. She was reminded of all their good times together, and how much she'd missed her brother. 


	7. Mixed Messages

"So, Abby did you hear that there's a party tomorrow night at Summer's?" Her best friend Kali asked running up beside her as she walked to her sixth period class.  
  
"No." She took the flyer from her friends hand and studied it. It'd been so long since she'd been to a good party. "Can I keep this?" She asked.  
  
Kali nodded and waved goodbye as she entered her classroom. Sixth period was Advanced Algebra II. It wasn't exactly easy to focus on the class when it was one of the last hours of the day. Making her way into the classroom; revealed a full class of her freshman peer. As a rule, freshman didn't have any classes with the upperclassmen besides electives like music, or a foreign language. Taking her seat in the front of the class just as the bell rang, she sighed.  
  
The teacher was going over some of the homework, but Abby was distracted by the flyer. She pulled out the pink computer printed sheet. Carefully she read it over a few times.  
  
"Ms. Cohen?" Abby looked up at the teachers inquiry. "Would you care to explain number fifteen on the board?" Abby looked down at her homework, and with little confidence, nodded.  
  
-----  
  
"So what did you think of Lost in Translation?"  
  
"I thought it was all right. You made it out to be a great movie, while I found it mediocre." Seth was flabbergasted at Anna's response.  
  
"Oh. My heart! It's breaking." He began to fake a heart attack, but finished in laughter as Anna slapped him in the arm. They descended the steps into a deep, cool, fall wind. Anna brushed a hair from her face and Seth noticed Ryan and Marissa walking together. In the last few months, a lot had gone on between the two. But finally, they were together. He did notice that uncharacteristically, they were holding hands. He actually thought it was quite cute.  
  
"Hey!" Marissa greeted the pair. Ryan nodded at Seth.  
  
"Hey! How are you guys?" Seth asked not really thinking. Neither Ryan nor Marissa really answered right away.  
  
"We're fine." Ryan let out a sigh. They two continued to walk around campus. School was out and they had nowhere to be. Seth was waiting for Abby. They all sat down on the edge of a grassy embankment which overlooked the whole quad. Seth scanned the scene.  
  
Various people were moving about, and then he narrowed in on her. Summer was busy posting up signs for her party. She turned, and locked eyes with Seth. Now about 200 feet away, it was hard to tell if she really had or not. His doubts were put to rest as she made a beeline for the four of them. She really looked spectacular today. He felt himself get a little hot.  
  
"Hey Coop." She smiled at Marissa and Marissa in return waved and muttered hello. "So I'm having this awesome party, I figured I'd invite you." She handed Marissa, Ryan and Seth a flyer. "It's gonna be a blast." She added as she handed the final one to Seth. For a second their hands touched. Her skin was so soft, and he blinked and their eyes locked again; somehow telling him that he was supposed to be there.  
  
"It sounds great, Sum. We'll be there." Marissa replied. Seth nodded and Ryan made agreeing eye expressions, since he was obligated to go with Marissa.  
  
"Great. Bye." She waved and left the four of them. Seth could see out of his peripheral vision that Anna was not exactly pleased with what had happened in that last exchange. She'd kissed him, but they'd never really discussed it. He wasn't even really sure how he felt about her, but he couldn't help imagining it. Then his thoughts wandered back to Summer. Such a tough choice; he sighed again, folded the paper in half and as he noticed Abigail coming up the path towards them, he motioned for Ryan to come with him.  
  
Ryan glanced at Marissa, who understood and they shared a quick peck. "See you tonight?" He asked in a whispered tone.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there." She smiled and he did a little bit too. Seth waved at Anna who made a half hearted motion to say goodbye as well. Ryan caught up to Seth and the two in turn caught up to Abby. The drive home was not long, but it was unusually quiet.  
  
------  
  
As soon as they got home, Ryan headed off to his poorhouse. Seth dropped his backpack on the kitchen table and Abby did the same.  
  
"How was your day?" He asked his sister as he tried to figure out whether Kirsten or Sandy would be home that night.  
  
"Good, I guess; nothing very remarkable." She unzipped her backpack and pulled out a notebook, a calculator and a pencil. Seth pulled a post-it note from near the phone. It was from his mother.  
  
"Well, that's good. Looks like neither of the parentals will be home anytime soon. You want pizza, or what?"  
  
"Whatever." She replied sighing and continuing her homework. Seth picked up the cordless and ordered a large cheese pie from Bob's pizza shack. Despite the unappealing name, they made good pizza.  
  
"Are you going to Summer's party on Friday?" He asked her as he hung up the phone. She dropped her pencil and looked up at him.  
  
"You know, I think I am. I haven't really partied in a long time. I need a break from all this schoolwork. Are you?" She asked him. They had a fifteen minute or so, discussion about the topic and resolved that he was going to go. How could he not? He'd made a connection with Summer, hadn't he?  
  
Shortly thereafter, the doorbell rang. Seth grabbed the twelve bucks of the table, and went to the door. As he left he asked Abby to get Ryan, and tell him supper was here. She dropped her pencil again, and left out the back door.  
  
-----  
  
Marissa entered the pool house, through the glass door she always used. Ryan was sitting in his usual spot on his bed, reading a comic book. His laptop was on the end table next to the bed. He looked up at her, and the biggest smile erupted across his face. Up until a few short weeks ago, he didn't smile. Most people thought he probably didn't even know how. But since that night on the Ferris wheel, he'd felt much lighter in emotion.  
  
She slipped on the bed next to him. Throwing the comic book clear across the room, with no regard for its condition, he took her face in his hands and began kissing her. He ran an idle hand through her soft hair. He could smell the fresh scent of her shampoo, and the perfume she wore. It was a scent he had come to enjoy. The kisses became short, but powerful and Ryan shed his top layer shirt, so as to be more comfortable.  
  
Marissa felt his chiseled arms which were obvious when he wore a tank top. She loved that he was so strong, yet so sensitive. A characteristic that Luke had lacked.  
  
"Do you work out?" She asked breathily between kisses. He smiled a little.  
  
"One hundred pushups every morning." He replied and they resumed kissing. Hands were roaming about now, she had her arms around his strong neck, and his were on her waist. They were in a horizontal position as well. Passionate kiss after passionate kiss built up, and Marissa broke from the embrace just a few inches.  
  
"I love you." She stated so fast that Ryan barely had time to think.  
  
In response, he replied. "I do too." The pulling her back in to the embrace began kissing her again. He surprised himself. He'd actually sort of told her he loved her. If you'd asked him that, then he wouldn't have known what to say. His sub-conscious was willing to admit the truth though.  
  
-----  
  
Abby walked up to the pool house. She glanced in the open glass window just to see what he was doing. What she saw shocked her. It was not that she didn't know he was dating Marissa, but she didn't expect to see it there in front of her face. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she ran back to the house, past Seth wielding a pizza box, and upstairs to her room; slamming her door.  
  
Seth looked perplexed a minute and sighed. "Girls. Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em." He thought of his own women problems. Setting the pizza box on the table, he grabbed a slice and headed upstairs to see what the problem was. 


	8. Off The Deep End

He thumped up the stairs after his sister, pizza slice in hand. Going down the long hallway, he knocked on her door.  
  
"Go away!" She yelled from inside the room.  
  
"I just want to talk to you." He yelled back taking a bite of pizza.  
  
"Well, I don't." She threw a pillow at the door.  
  
"Come on Abs, let me in." He sighed. She was quiet for a while, and he just stood there. Soon he heard her shuffle over to the door, and unlock it.  
  
"What do you want?" She asked, looking down at her feet as to hide for eyes which were almost tearing up again.  
  
"I told you, I wanna talk. What's the problem?" He came into her room, and shut the door behind him, sitting down on the floor in front of it.  
  
"Nothing, I told you already." She avoided his glances.  
  
"Really, you can tell me. I'm sure I understand what it is your going through." He finished his last bite of pizza, and gave her a telling look. Realizing she wasn't going to tell him. He nodded his head, got up and turned to leave. He left her door open as he walked back down the hall. She scurried over to the door.  
  
"Seth?" She stuck her head out the door. He stopped and turned around in this fun spinning motion.  
  
"Yes?" He replied a little dizzily.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled. He returned her smile, and headed back downstairs where he found Marissa and Ryan, who had found the pizza.  
  
-----  
  
"Well, that was one hell of a party!" Seth came in the front door a little too excited. Abby followed, still in a slightly resentful mood, while Marissa and Ryan took up the back.  
  
"You just liked it because not one, but two girls asked you out." Ryan commented sarcastically. He'd had a drink or two.  
  
"Of course that's the reason." Seth replied. He didn't need alcohol. He always had a natural high.  
  
"Well, did you have fun Abby?" This was virtually the first time Marissa had ever spoken to her.  
  
"I suppose, yeah." She faked a smile and Marissa seemed to believe her. She really had had quite a bit of fun. She just didn't want to admit it.  
  
"Well, I better go. See you guys later." She waved and then turned to Ryan. "I will see you, tomorrow." His eyes told her everything as he swooped in for a kiss, or maybe a few. Shutting the door hard on her way out, alerted the parents. It was too late though. Sandy and Kirsten had been doing a little kissing of their own in the kitchen.  
  
"Well, well. Look like the party is still goin' on here." Seth exclaimed as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. "What's up with you guys lately? You are never around." Seth sipped his water and waited for an answer.  
  
Sandy looked and Kirsten and they looked back at their children, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Work has been hectic lately, I'm sorry we've been neglecting you." Sandy replied. Kirsten nodded.  
  
"It's just lately things have been, rough." She added. "But we'll try to be home earlier from now on. Well, actually starting on Monday." Sandy agreed.  
  
"Goodnight all." Sandy finished. Seth kinda waved sheepishly, Ryan still drunk but not terribly noticeably, wandered off to the pool house, and Abby smiled knowing that tomorrow night the house was hers.  
  
-----  
  
Seth was wandering about the house early Sunday morning. He was supposed to do the laundry, which he didn't have the faintest idea how to do, because Rosa usually did it. But how hard could it be, right? Abby's laundry basket was in her room, so up the stairs he went to get it. Entering the white bedroom, he scanned it for her basket. It sat next to her desk. Picking it up, he noticed that her journal was open on the desk. Forgetting that curiosity killed the cat, he began to read the latest entry.  
  
Dear Journal,  
  
Mom and Dad are never home anymore. I should like that, but I really don't. Seth tries to be a parent, but he's really not so great at it. As a brother he's okay, but as a parent, he's not so hot. I'm really getting sick doing good, and not going to parties, when I could do whatever I wanted and Mom and Dad wouldn't even know.  
  
So I was supposed to get Ryan to come in from supper today, but when I got to the pool house he was WITH Marissa. I couldn't handle it. I mean I know they are together, but I couldn't help but feel jealous. Ryan is like my "brother" though; I shouldn't feel that way about him. There's just something about how he looks, how he walks, how he treats me that just makes---  
  
The doorbell rang, and Seth looked up. Frantically he put the journal back on the desk and ran downstairs with the basket. He set it by the door, regained his composure and answered it. To his surprise, Anna Stern was the face that greeted him.  
  
"Hey there, Anna." He gave her one of his sheepish grins. Then he noticed he was only in his boxers and a t-shirt, and got a little flushed.  
  
"Hey Cohen, what's up?" She noted his attire, and she had to admit even though he was a bit skinner than he looked in normal clothes, he looked pretty good.  
  
"Ah, ah, what's up? Um, I'm just doing a little laundry. You?" He stammered a bit.  
  
"Well, what a coincidence, I am good at laundry." She smiled.  
  
"Really, because so am I!"  
  
"Really?" She was very skeptical. He nodded. She followed him to the laundry area of the house. He set Abby's basket down next to his and glanced around trying to figure out what to do next. She noticed his confusion and began to look for the detergent. "Well, let me start." She added taking the detergent and the clothes that needed washing, and putting them into the washer which she had turned on and was now filling itself with water. "You see, reds go together and blues go together in a different load. Oops! Your whites definitely do not go in with the reds." She handed him a white t-shirt. He was both stunned, and turned on at the same time. She closed the washer and handed him the empty baskets.  
  
"Wow, you are good at laundry. Where'd you learn that?" He locked eyes with her.  
  
"Oh, just a little something I picked up in Pittsburgh." She smiled. She was flirting now, and she leaned up to kiss him. He stopped her.  
  
"Wait. You got to do that last time. It's my turn." He pulled her close to him with his free arm, and kissed her soft on the lips. She pulled away, quite blown away.  
  
"Smooth, Cohen." She replied with a giggle.  
  
-----  
  
"All right, I think I have everything." Abby checked things in her head. She'd done the invites, she'd gotten some snack stuff, a bunch of music and some other people were bringing other things.  
  
Her parents were out, working or something as usual. Seth was on one of his "dates", and Ryan and Marissa were doing something she didn't wanna think about. She was alone, but not for long. The doorbell rang, and she ran to answer it. Several guys were carrying things and she pointed them in the general direction that she wanted the stuff. People came steadily after that, and soon the house was hoppin'! The music was blaring away, and Abigail was lost once again in the atmosphere of the party. She had a cup in her hand, a beat to dance to and she was as happy as could be expected. The music blared loud, as the beat pulsed hard and she began grinding with a few random guys.  
  
Soon she was overcome by it all, and was up against a wall grinding hard and kissing some guy. She didn't even know his name. But she didn't care. He made her feel good. This all made her feel really good. She felt his hands roam up her dark black top, and she took one last sip of her drink and threw the cup across the room.  
  
-----  
  
"So Summer, how are you?" Seth wanted to at least give pleasantries a try.  
  
"Oh, you know. I'm good, as well as can be expected I guess." She sipped a coffee. Seth sighed. Ryan had given him the pool house to use for the night, and he was a little distracted by the loud music coming from the house, but too preoccupied with Summer's beauty to worry about it. Just Abby having fun, he figured.  
  
"Well, that's good." He really had no idea what to say. Summer sighed in a bored way.  
  
"Cohen? Are we actually gonna do anything, or we just gonna sit here and drink crappy coffee that you made?" She kind of glared at him. Summer did have an interesting perspective on romance.  
  
"Well, actually you kind of sprung this date thing on me. I had no idea what to do." He looked embarrassed as usual. Summer set down her cup and stood up. He followed suit. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him down the steps, and onto Ryan's bed. She was on top of him, before he could do anything and she was furiously kissing him as if she'd never done so before. At first he enjoyed it, but then he pushed her off onto the bed.  
  
"You like it rough, huh Cohen?" Summer smiled devilishly and pulled him in again. He pulled away from her again.  
  
"That's not it at all. It can't be this way." He insisted.  
  
"What?" Summer asked cluelessly.  
  
"Us! We can't be this way. I need there to be something more to us than kissing. Not that the kissing isn't fantastic, although I don't have much to compare it to, but the kissing is fabulous. But I need a relationship, not just a set of lips, thighs and eyes." He looked like a sad puppy dog.  
  
"Well, I'm not really good at that." She replied and crossed her arms.  
  
"I've noticed." He replied sarcastically. They ignored each other for a good few minutes.  
  
"Are you sure?" Summer asked.  
  
"Yes, I am Summer. Dead sure." He nodded.  
  
"Fine, goodbye." She replied taking her purse and leaving, making sure to slam the door on her way out. That hadn't gone as he planned.  
  
"Women!" He exclaimed throwing his arms up in frustration. He lay down again on Ryan's bed, and sighed.  
  
-----  
  
Sandy and Kirsten met in the driveway.  
  
"How was work?" Kirsten asked her husband after he kissed her.  
  
"Fine, especially for being a slave to all those demons that you hate so much." Kirsten laughed.  
  
"Do you hear that?" Kirsten asked noticing that their house was filled with loud music.  
  
"Yeah, and it's coming from our house." Sandy replied. They both ran up to find out what was going on. Sandy opened the door, and Kirsten followed. They both crept into the living room quietly, and as the stereo was set up conveniently close to where they were standing, Sandy pressed the power switch. The whole crowd stopped including Abby. "What the hell, do you think you are doing?" He asked the whole crowd, but looked at Abby in particular. Kirsten was stunned by the position her daughter was in, and as she glanced around the room it only got worse. There were empty cups everywhere, cigarette burns and two kegs in the kitchen. Her focus spun back to Abby. Stunned no more, she began to scream.  
  
"Everybody out! That is it. I have had it with you, Abigail Marie Cohen. Go to your room, right now. We'll deal with you in a moment. Everyone out!" Everyone did get out, because Kirsten angry was pretty freaking scary.  
  
"Fine, like I care what you do to me. You are such a terrible mother." She ran through the crowds of people up to her room and slammed the door as hard as she could. Sandy looked at Kirsten, and they both looked around the room. In from the pool house, came Seth.  
  
"Wow, it looks like somebody has been having a little too much spring break- like fun in here." He exclaimed as he looked around.  
  
"Did you know about this?" Sandy asked. Seth shook his head.  
  
"No. Scouts honor." He made the scout sign, and raised his eyebrows a bit.  
  
----- 


	9. Secrets and Screaming

"Wow, holy uncomfortable! I'll just see myself to my room. Goodnight." Seth tiptoed his way upstairs, passing by the kegs and a few cups strewn about in his path. With Seth sufficiently gone, Kirsten turned to Sandy.  
  
"What has she become? Have we been such bad parents that she doesn't know she is not allowed to act like a little whore? Throwing parties, and drinking beer, and tramping around. That is not the little girl I used to know!" Kirsten fumed really not at all sure what she was doing, so blinded by her frustration.  
  
"Well, sweetie, that is because she is not that girl anymore. We have to realize that she's growing up, and she just doesn't know how to handle it. We haven't exactly been a great help for her either." He replied.  
  
"Don't blame this on us! This is not our fault. This is not our doing. I am a perfectly fit mother. Sure, I may be gone sometimes. But I care. I do--- I do, really. I just can't believe---" She couldn't finish her sentence as she sat down at the kitchen table and started to cry uncontrollably.  
  
"Aw, honey. This is not all your fault. You are a good mother. You just get busy like you said, and so do I. It's okay." He stroked her hair as she sobbed.  
  
-----  
  
She bolted up the stairs, tripping once on the stairs but picking herself up. She was red from a combination of anger and embarrassment. She slammed her door and lay down on her bed, screaming into a pillow.  
  
Seth walked past, heard her screaming and high tailed it out of there. He was not about to get in the middle of that situation. Hopping into his bed, he grabbed the new copy of Legion and his CD player, happily tuning out what was going on around him.  
  
__  
  
"Expect me to apologize for things that you've done wrong. But you're inciting others. You're owning up to nothing and I wish that I was gone, 'cause you're not going anywhere." __  
  
-----  
  
"Abigail, I'm coming in!" Kirsten hollered as she came up the stairs. She swung the door to her daughters' room open and saw her laying there on her bed. "Abigail, look at me!" Abby hesitated but did as she was told. Her eyes were angry. So were her mothers'. "Abigail, what the hell do you think you were doing tonight? Is that the way I taught you to behave? What is going on with you lately?" Kirsten put her hands on her hips and stared her daughter down.  
  
Abby didn't want to say anything. She was afraid of what would happen if she dared tell her mother the truth. The more her mother stared at her, the more she wanted her to stop, the more she felt she had to talk. She stood up about 5 feet from her mother.  
  
"I hate you! I hate this life. I hate myself. Why can't I party? Why can't I have friends like Seth? This is not fair. You treat me like a little girl. That is, when you ever see me! I am NOT a little girl anymore if you haven't noticed, Mom! I like boys, and makeup and clothes, not Barbie dolls. You are so busy with work and your life that you don't have time enough to care about me. You are missing me grow up, and you treat me like I haven't. I'm sick of it." She slammed back down onto her bed, bouncing up a little as the bed bounced back. She started to sob.  
  
Kirsten didn't know what to say. She came up here all ready to punish her daughter severely for what she had done, but Abby had just told her off. She'd told her the truth, which should have been so obvious a blind man could have seen it from a mile away. She ran a hand through her blonde locks and sighed. She sat down on the bed next to her sobbing daughter.  
  
"Abby, I'm so sorry." She began. "You're right; I have been neglecting my duties as your mother. I thought you'd be fine, but apparently this is the effect. Can you forgive me?" She finished as Abby lifted her head to look at her. Her eyes were smeared with mascara and she blinked a few times.  
  
"Mom, I know --- yeah. I forgive you." She nodded her head. "Can you treat me like the 15 year old that I am?" Kirsten nodded.  
  
"I'll try kiddo; it's just hard to see you grow up. I can't excuse you from this little scene tonight though. That was probably the most irresponsible thing that you have ever done, and it cannot go ignored. You will be cleaning up that entire mess tomorrow morning, and I am grounding you for two months. You cannot go out to any parties or events in that time. You may use the phone, the internet and the T.V. but you will go to and from school under complete supervision of Seth or Ryan. Understand?" Abby nodded. It was fair. Truthfully, she knew she'd gone in over her head.  
  
"After the two months?" She asked.  
  
"You can go to parties, after we've said its okay." Kirsten replied. Abby wiped her eyes and nodded in approval. "Try to get some sleep now, dear." She smiled and gave her a quick hug.  
  
-----  
  
The front door opened softly and Ryan snuck in. Walking into the dinning room, he stepped on a plastic cup. He picked it up, noticed the others as well as Sandy sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer.  
  
"What happened?" He asked. Sandy looked up and laughed a little.  
  
"Abby had a party." He replied taking another sip of his drink. Ryan made his way over to the table and sat down.  
  
"Wow! Two kegs, she's getting a little ahead of herself there. Maybe we'll forget the whole burning down the house incident now, huh?"  
  
"Not a chance." Sandy retorted.  
  
"Where's umm- where's Mom?" It sounded weird to him saying that.  
  
"She's upstairs disciplining Abby. Don't count on seeing her much in the next few months. Kirsten's pretty pissed." Ryan couldn't help but scoff.  
  
"So you're down here, drowning your troubles in the same thing that caused the problem tonight?" He pointed to Sandy's beer bottle, and then to the keg.  
  
"Hey, I am old enough. She is not." Sandy raised his eyebrows and set down the bottle, turning it a bit. "How's Marissa?"  
  
"She's fine. I just got back from our date, nothing special."  
  
"Really like her, huh?" Sandy asked.  
  
"Well, she is my girlfriend." Ryan replied.  
  
"Officially, really? That's awesome." Sandy smiled a little. "I'm really proud of you. You've come a long way from where you were when I brought you here. You've made friends, embraced Seth and scored yourself the prettiest girl in all of Orange County. You must have some of the Cohen genes in you."  
  
"Thanks." Ryan smiled a little. "Well, I'm gonna head off to bed."  
  
"Do you want a room in the house? I mean now that you are completely, totally and officially part of the family?" Sandy asked. Ryan turned around, now standing at the glass door.  
  
"No, the pool house is fine. It gives me some privacy. I like it."  
  
"Oh, I see. Okay." Sandy winked at him and Ryan shook his head, scoffed and made his way to bed. Sandy continued to sip his Corona.  
  
-----  
  
Seth arose fresh as a daisy. He always one of those "rise and shine" kind of people. As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he said hello to whoever was in it.  
  
"Hey." Ryan replied pouring milk on his frosted flakes. Seth grabbed an orange off the counter and began to peel it. He hadn't seen Ryan since he'd read Abby's diary. Suddenly he remembered reading the entry. He had to tell Ryan. Seriously, he would have exploded if he didn't tell this secret.  
  
"So I kind of read something about you a while ago." Seth started.  
  
"Oh, yeah? Where?" He asked looking up from his cereal.  
  
"Well, it's funny. I was looking for Abby's laundry basket, when my head fell right into her journal and my eyes just happened to start reading the page. It wasn't my fault. Honestly, I didn't try."  
  
"So, what did you read in her journal?" Ryan asked with a mouthful of flakes and milk.  
  
"She has a crush on you." Seth replied smiling a little and biting his lips. Ryan spit his flakes across the counter top, nearly hitting Seth. "She thinks the way you look at her is hot, and the clothes you wear."  
  
"Did you have to tell me that?" Ryan asked, wiping up the flakes.  
  
"I couldn't keep it to myself. Really, I couldn't. I had to."  
  
"Well, as long as it helped to keep you alive." Ryan retorted sarcastically.  
  
Abigail rounded the corner to the kitchen and Seth noticed. "So, that is the reason that eight tracks are so much better than CD's." He tried to make up some conversation. Abby looked at him funny, and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She walked over to where Ryan stood. He tried not to make eye contact. She just stood there a minute.  
  
"Can I get in here?" She asked pointing at the drawer. Ryan was standing in front of the spoon drawer. He backed away.  
  
"Sorry." He replied in a hurried way. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a spoon. He was acting weirder than normal.  
  
"Holy awkward." Seth muttered under his breath as he stifled a giggle. Kirsten entered the room and noted the silence.  
  
"Come on you three, you are gonna be late for school. Let's go." Seth ate his last slice of orange and dashed upstairs to get his bag. Ryan kind of gave Abby a sideways glance and a fake smile when he noticed that she was looking at him too.  
  
-----  
  
*Lyrics are The Sharp Hint of New Tears by Dashboard Confessional. 


	10. Confrontation

"Seth, I have yearbook today so you have to stay after since I'm on this whole house arrest slash constant supervision thing." Abby turned back to her brother and Ryan in the hallway.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be in the library or something. Meet me at the car when you're done." Seth replied. Ryan motioned that he had to turn into the classroom. Seth waved. Abby nodded and turned back around, going left when they came to the intersection of hallways. Seth took a right, and almost ran into Summer Roberts. It'd been a while since they'd last spoken; a week at least. "Hey, Summer." He greeted catching up to her.  
  
She ignored him for a moment. "I thought we weren't talking to each other ever again?"  
  
"Nope, we are talking. That's the problem we had. Not enough talking." He set her straight.  
  
"Sometimes I think you talk enough for both of us, Cohen." Summer replied as the both rounded another corner together.  
  
"So, we're headed to biology. How are you doing in biology, Summer?"  
  
"I'd be doing better if I had a good lab partner." She smirked cockily at him as they entered the classroom and the bell rang. They walked to separate tables as they entered. Seth sat down comfortably next to Anna; Summer found a seat next to her lab partner.  
  
-----  
  
The bell rang, and Abby hurried to her next class. She came swooping around a corner and ran headlong into someone. All her books fell to the floor, and they both bent down to pick them up.  
  
"I'm sorry." She muttered looking up.  
  
"It's fine. It's my fault." Ryan replied looking at her. Without looking, he placed a hand down to pick up her books. He felt her hand under his, and for a second it lingered there. He was screaming at himself in his head that he had to lift his hand, but he was paralyzed. He could tell she was too. He managed to pick up all her books and she held them close to her chest again.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled.  
  
"Where are you headed?" He asked.  
  
"I'm-I'm going to lunch. You?" She replied using that patented Cohen stutter.  
  
"I am too." Ryan replied. "We can walk together." He smiled a little. Abby's heart fluttered a bit. Was this really happening? They walked along together for a while, silent. "So, I know you have a crush on me." He got it out as fast as he could. She stopped dead in her tracks. He turned around to face her. "It's very flattering, but you know of course it can never happen? I mean we are practically brother and sister." He was surprised at how well he was dealing with this.  
  
"How did you find out?" She asked smiling a bit.  
  
"Seth fell face first into your journal apparently. And it would have killed him not to tell me. But in his defense, if he hadn't have told me that little hand incident would have tipped me off." He looked straight into her eyes.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry." She looked at her feet.  
  
"Don't be sorry. It's normal. You're a really sweet girl Abby, and I don't want this to come between us. Don't hesitate to talk to me just because of this." He smiled. "Now, are you going to lunch or not?"  
  
"Yeah, I am." She smiled back and in that instant stopped seeing him as a potential boyfriend. That statement he'd made was very brotherly. He'd obviously been trained well by Seth. They walked the rest of the way to lunch, got in line, and took their trays over to the table where Marissa, Seth, Summer and Anna were already seated.  
  
"Where were you guys?" Marissa asked as she kissed Ryan.  
  
"We were just talking." He smiled at her, sat down and looked straight across the table to Seth. His eyes told Seth everything. Ryan had that kind of eyes. Seated on either side of Seth were Anna, and Summer respectively. He really needed to choose. He was a one woman man, stuck between to fabulous girls. How would he ever choose?  
  
-----  
  
Yearbook was not the coolest activity to be involved in, but it was certainly better than the chess club. Abby sat cross legged listening to the editor that was speaking. She was talking about something to do with adding pictures to the layout. Abby wasn't really listening.  
  
She scanned the opposite side of the room and saw that most of the other faces in the room showed as much boredom as hers. She locked onto one face, just one out of the crowd. She didn't know his name, but his facial features caught her eyes, and he appeared to be staring right back at her. She blushed, tipped her head down in a shy way and tucked some hair behind her ear. He shifted forward in his seat and smiled. She never took her eyes off him, even as she tipped her head.  
  
The editor stopped talking and some general comments were made by people scattered sparsely throughout the room. When the meeting was adjourned, Abby gathered her things, and carefully put them back into her shoulder strapped backpack. The boy from the other side made his way up, moving ever closer to her desk. She snapped her bag shut and began to stand up as he approached.  
  
"Hi." He began, his blue eyes twinkling. "I'm David. You're Abby, right?" His eyes were such a close match to his blue polo shirt, and jeans. He looked excellent.  
  
"Yes. I am Abby; Abby Cohen." She smiled. His face was vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't place it.  
  
"I just wanted to say hello, that you look awesome today." He replied.  
  
"Thanks." She beamed.  
  
"Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to do something on Friday."  
  
"I-I'd love to but," She remembered her punishment. "I can't. I'm kind of grounded for like the next fifteen days or something. I kind of threw this wild party, and it didn't go over so well with my parents." They started to walk down the hall together.  
  
"I was there. Some of my friends made me go. It's not really my scene, so I just kind of hung over in the corner. That's where I first saw you."  
  
"So you've seen me at my worst. That's a comforting thought." She stated rather sarcastically.  
  
"It didn't matter what happened there. I can see there's more to you than that."  
  
"Wow." Abby was impressed. Guys were generally denser than that.  
  
"I'd still like to go out with you sometime. Maybe we can work on a yearbook page together?" He smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I'd like that. Umm, here's my cell phone number. Give me a call sometime and we can figure something out." She scribbled her number on a scrap of paper and handed it to him.  
  
"You mean you can use the phone?" He took the paper, and glanced at it surprised.  
  
"Yeah, I just can't go out."  
  
"All right, then. I'll call you." He replied. She waved and she walked up the hallway to the library. She had a feeling Seth would still be there, even though he said he'd be at the car by now. She had a new bounce in her step that she hadn't felt in a long time. Excitement, she thought.  
  
-----  
  
"What do you want, Cohen?" Anna demanded as he dragged her by the sleeve across the library. Summer was seated in one of those comfortable reading chairs and he plopped Anna down in the one beside her.  
  
"What is up, Cohen?" Summer pleaded angrily with him. The two of them sat there for a minute, watching Seth as he thought of the words to say.  
  
"Here goes. I like you both, A LOT. But I can't have you both, so I need to pick one of you. Now I don't mean to make you feel like ice cream flavors, but it's just so hard. Summer, you have been in my dreams since childhood. Anna, you are so awesome in every way; funny and clever and very intellectually compatible with me. But Summer, you are so beautiful and you finally talk to me. Can I mess that up? I have come to one conclusion and one conclusion only. I'm incapable of choosing." Summer and Anna looked at each. They were both really confused. "Now Ryan seems to think that I should go with Anna, while Marissa I think, feels I should choose Summer. Well, there goes that option. Can't ask my friends; no definite answers. So what is the only way to choose? We each have to go on a real, sincere date. No drinking coffee in the pool house, and no laundry. Does that sound realistic? 'Cause I've put a lot of thought into this, I hope it makes sense."  
  
Summer and Anna looked at each other again. "Yes." They said in unison.  
  
"Great! Who's free Saturday?"  
  
"I could be." Anna smiled.  
  
"What about Friday?" Seth asked  
  
"I suppose I am." Summer retorted.  
  
"Good, it's settled then. Summer, I'll be by to pick you up at seven. Wear something nice. Meeting is adjourned."  
  
Abigail came skipping up behind him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Anna! Hey Summer! Are you ready to go Seth?" She smiled at her brother.  
  
"Ah, yeah let's go." He was flabbergasted by her level of happiness. Something excellent must have happened. He raised his eyebrows at Anna and she smiled. The two left the library, and drove straight home. Respectively, they had a lot to think about.  
  
----- 


	11. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

"So, we have a test tomorrow. Why don't you come over and study?" The voice on the phone asked in a soft tone.  
  
"David, you know I can't. I'm grounded, remember? Wild parties, drinking, elicit behavior? A night I'd rather forget."  
  
"I remember Abby, but I'm sure your parents will let you come over if you explain to them that you need to study." She had to admit he did make a good point, and she really would like to see him.  
  
"I guess I'll try. I'll call you if I can't come. See you soon, hopefully." He said goodbye and she pressed the talk button on the phone, ending the call.  
  
-----  
  
"I hate school." Seth whined. Kirsten looked back from inside the refrigerator.  
  
"No, you don't. You love a challenge." She replied.  
  
"Yeah, you're right I do. I was just trying to get some attention."  
  
"Oh, you want attention, huh?" She set down the food she'd taken out of the fridge. "Well, how are Summer and Anna?" She asked sitting down in a chair next to him.  
  
"Okay, I've had enough attention. Thank you." He glued his eyes to the paper, unwilling to answer that question.  
  
"Fine, if you don't wanna talk, we just won't talk." She got up and walked back over to the counter to prepare dinner.  
  
"Mom," Abby yelled as she came running downstairs. Kirsten was in the kitchen cooking dinner, which was severely frightening Seth who was at the kitchen table doing homework. He looked at his watch, 5:30 pm.  
  
"I'm in the kitchen, Abby." Kirsten replied as her daughter entered the room.  
  
"Mom, can I go and study at David's house?" She asked in an innocent tone.  
  
"You're still grounded, and who is David?" Kirsten looked up from her the pot that she was stirring. Seth couldn't help up overhear. He'd always been an eavesdropper.  
  
"David's just a guy that I have Algebra with and we have this big test tomorrow so I kind of need to study. Plus, it's studying not going out so it wouldn't really be breaking my punishment. This will better my education." Kirsten looked at her daughter with a suspicious look.  
  
"Are you really going over to study?" She asked cutting some indistinct vegetable up.  
  
"There is no way you are letting her go, she is still grounded. This is just a clever excuse to get out of it." Seth protested butting into the conversation.  
  
"If your sister says she is studying, then she is studying. I guess I just have to trust her. Treat her like the young adult that she is." Kirsten looked back up at her smiling daughter, and then she looked back at Seth. "And you are taking her." She pointed the knife she had been cutting with at him.  
  
"What? What is this? This is so not fair. Oh, fine." He conceded after his mother stared him down. "Come on Abby, let's go." He slammed his book shut, and grabbed the keys to the car on the way out of the kitchen.  
  
"Just give me a second to get my books." Abby replied dashing upstairs. She ran down the carpeted hall to her bedroom. She grabbed her Advanced Algebra II book, did a quick mirror check and headed back downstairs. This math class was harder than her Geometry class had been. Once she'd started applying herself in that class, the teacher noticed she was simply wallowing in the simplicity the course. So she'd been moved up a level and landed in David's class, much to her pleasant surprise. She grabbed her coat on the way out, and met Seth in the car.  
  
-----  
  
The doorbell rang and David got up from the couch in the living room to answer it. It was Abby. She looked really cute too. He always noticed that about her though. Whenever she did something new with her hair, or wore a new outfit.  
  
"Hey." He smiled and opened the door. "Come on in." She smiled back and entered the room without a word. His house was nice, but not nearly as big as hers. That really didn't bother her, it was just an observation. "So, should we get started?" He asked after she'd had a few seconds to look around.  
  
"Yeah, let's start." She agreed as he led her up the steps into what was presumably his room.  
  
"I hope you don't mind studying in here, it's just that my parents---"  
  
"No, you're room is fine." She replied stopping him before he could finish his sentence. They sat down on the carpet and began to study.  
  
-----  
  
It was Wednesday night, and Seth had yet to make plans for his evening with Summer. He parked the car and went back to the pool house, hoping to find Ryan there. He tripped over the pool skimmer on the way there and almost killed himself falling onto the concrete. He threw it into the pool and continued on.  
  
"Hey man, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Seth asked as he entered the room. "Don't have Marissa hiding under the bed or some miscellaneous piece of furniture?" Ryan looked up and gave him a glare. "Okay, fine. Just a little joke, cool it." Seth moved over into the dining area and grabbed a Coke from the small refrigerator that Ryan had set up.  
  
"So, what's up? You can't have come just to steal my carbonated beverages and ridicule me about my girlfriend." Ryan looked up from his book, still sitting on the bed.  
  
"Nope, I didn't. That was just a fringe benefit." He replied clicking his tongue as he swallowed a mouthful of cold cola. "I came to ask your opinion on where I should take Summer to dinner?"  
  
"Do I look like I've been to a lot of fancy dinning experiences? I'd have no idea where to tell you. You could ask Marissa, or you know you do have mother."  
  
"Well, Mom is out of the question. She's too involved already. Too bad Marissa isn't hiding on the other side of the bed." He raised his voice at the end of the sentence. The jig was up. Marissa peeked out from the opposite side of the bed. She swooped some misplaced hair back from her face.  
  
"Hey." She replied sheepishly.  
  
"Oh, hey look Ryan! It's Marissa. I wonder how she got down there." Seth contorted a perplexed expression and laughed a little.  
  
"Oh, hey Marissa. What are you doing over there?" Ryan pretended he didn't know. She smiled a little but didn't respond.  
  
"No need to answer, I know what's going on. Is that all you two do? I mean seriously, read a book." Seth grabbed the handle to the door again. "Oh, Marissa. Seeing as you're here, do you happen to know of a good restaurant to take Summer to?" He turned around to address her.  
  
"Ah, I've heard her talk about The Ritz. It's a nice place not too far from here. It's probably in the phone book." She got up and sat down on the bed.  
  
"Thanks." Seth replied cataloging the information in his head. "Carry on." He added looking at Ryan and smiling. He left and Ryan looked at Marissa, and she looked at him.  
  
"Is this really all we do?" She asked him as he moved close to her on the bed.  
  
"Does it really matter?" He asked stroking her face and kissing her again.  
  
"I guess not." She replied smiling.  
  
-----  
  
"So I take this twenty-five and move it over then I can use the quadratic formula and then I'll have the answer?" She asked leaning over her book which lay on the floor. Her long hair was up in a ponytail.  
  
"Yep, and you get this as an answer." He wrote a few numbers on the paper and pointed at them.  
  
"So that's it? It seems a lot harder in class." She replied.  
  
"Yep, that's it. Of course you have to be careful of tricky sign changes but it's not too difficult." He finished erasing a stray mark on the paper and looked up. Her face was about a foot from his face at most. He reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, you just had a little piece out of place." He smiled and looked straight into her eyes. They were a shimmering blue like he'd never seen before. After a moment, he closed his eyes and moving closer, pressed his lips gently against hers. It surprised her, but in a good way and she kissed back. The kisses stayed slow, and innocent. He pulled back after a moment or so.  
  
She had no idea what to say. She'd never been in this situation before. "Ah, I should probably go. My dad's supposed to pick me up soon, I think." She closed her books and left his room. He sat there for a moment but got up to follow after her. She raced down the stairs and out the door for fear that he would follow her. He did and he stopped on the steps as she ran down the sidewalk.  
  
"Abby! Wait." He shouted after her. She stopped at turned around and he walked down the sidewalk to her. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."  
  
"No, you didn't." She refused to meet his eyes for fear he'd see her tears.  
  
"I just thought you felt---"  
  
"I do." She answered softly finally looking at him. Headlights blinded David before he could say anything else. "It looks like my ride is here, thanks for the help." She smiled a little and he could barely see it, then she turned and got into the car.  
  
-----  
  
"So, who was that?" Sandy asked a few minutes into the car ride.  
  
"Just someone helping me study," she replied starring out into the emptiness of the dark night sky.  
  
"Just someone or more than someone?"  
  
"Just David," she added.  
  
"Ah! So the poor boy does have a name. Does he have a last name?"  
  
"Ascher, I think." She answered after a short pause.  
  
"Ascher, why is that familiar? Oh, I defended an Ascher a while back when I was working as a D.A. Got busted on drug possession charges. Didn't win that case, one of the only few. If this boy is that man's son, he's bad news." Sandy said sternly.  
  
"Dad, how do you even know he is?" Abby demanded defensively.  
  
"I've been to that house before Abby, I know those people. He and his wife never get along and they've done a few things that are less than kosher. I don't want you getting hurt."  
  
"I'm not gonna get hurt, Dad."  
  
"No, you aren't because you are not going to talk to him again."  
  
"But Dad! You don't even know him."  
  
"It doesn't matter. I won't have my little girl in danger." He glanced off the road and to her face.  
  
"I'm not your little girl, remember?"  
  
"Doesn't matter. Not happening." Sandy wasn't letting down. She conceded.  
  
"Fine, I won't see him ever again." She finished the conversation and resumed staring out the window. She wasn't prepared to fight for this now. 


	12. Defining Moments

"Do we seem dull to you?" Marissa asked as she held Ryan's hand, both walking down the boardwalk.  
  
"Not really." He replied.  
  
"It's just that all we do is go to parties, and make out in the pool house. Not that that stuff isn't really great, but it just seems like we're stale. Don't you feel that way?"  
  
"I don't think we're stale. We're just---" He wasn't sure what the word was. She slipped around to face him. She looked at him a minute.  
  
"Comfortable?" She replied answering her own question.  
  
"Comfortable." He repeated smiling a little bit. "Can you handle comfortable?" He asked leaning in kissing her softly on the lips, and tightening his grasp on her smooth hands.  
  
"I can handle comfortable, yeah." She smiled.  
  
-----  
  
"Yes, I'm calling to confirm reservations for Cohen." There was a pause as the list was checked. Seth glanced at his watch. 6:15. "Cohen is there? Good. Thank you my good man." Seth hung up the phone and smiled looking around.  
  
He was ready, but what was he forgetting? Flowers, keys, wallet, reservations, there had to be something else. The suit! He looked down at his torn blue jeans, and hit himself in the head as he went and retrieved his suit from the closet.  
  
Putting it on, he looked in the mirror and did his tie. Contented with his appearance, he gave captain oats a pat on the head and walked out the door, jingling the keys to the beamer.  
  
-----  
  
David had tried all day Thursday to talk to Abby. She avoided his glances in class, and left as soon as the bell rang. He wasn't gonna just let her avoid him. Standing outside her house, he took a deep breath and headed up the steps. Pushing the door bell he heard the ring and waited patiently.  
  
Seth was on his way out to the beamer when the doorbell rang, and he ran to answer it. Upon opening it, he found David. "Yes?"  
  
"Is Abby here?" He asked a little unsteadily. Seth looked him down and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, she's upstairs. Let me get her for her." He opened the door wider and walked over to the stairs. "Abby, come down here!" He yelled up the stairs. She came stamping down the stairs in a minute.  
  
"What do you want, Seth?" She asked hopping the last step. She stopped when she saw David. "Oh David, what are you doing here?" She kind of diverted her eyes to a spot on the ground.  
  
"Ah! I see what's going on here. This is the boy you were "studying" with, isn't it? There is major vibage in this room, holy uncomfortable!" He looked at David and walked out the door mumbling something. "I wish I could stay and boy-chat, but I have my own woman to attend to. Good luck." This left only Abby and David. She was still avoiding his glances as the two stood there in the entrance of the Cohen's home.  
  
"Abby, can we talk about this?" He started. She looked up. Tears were welling up in her eyes again. "Abby---" He moved closer to her, and put his arms around her. She did not pull away, but began to cry on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" He stroked her head gently, comforting her.  
  
"It's just that---I didn't expect that, and then I didn't know what to do. Then I ran ---and my father remembered your parents' past, --- and I'm not even supposed to see you." She managed to speak between tears. He moved back so they were face to face now.  
  
"Just because my parents had less than kosher paths in life, doesn't mean I am." She looked down again.  
  
"I know, but my father doesn't think that." She replied. "I really do wanna- --" He placed a finger to her lips.  
  
"You don't have to say anything. I know. I have a plan." He smiled, grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze on the way out the door. She stood there with mascara running, face red and eyes bloodshot. A plan, what was that all about? She'd just poured her problems out to him and he'd walked out with only that statement. In her more hell-raising days, she'd have gone to the fridge and grabbed a beer. That wasn't her now. It wasn't her anymore. She really wasn't sure who she was sometimes, but she knew that wasn't who she was.  
  
-----  
  
"Here you are Mr. Cohen." The maitradee seated the two at a small table near the piano player. Summer smiled politely at the man as he pulled out her chair for her.  
  
"Cohen, how did you know this was my favorite restaurant?" She asked looking at her menu and then looking up.  
  
"A boy can't tell all of his secrets, can he?" He replied sipping his water.  
  
"You asked Coop, didn't you?"  
  
"Maybe," he replied evadingly.  
  
"Well, it's nice, very nice Cohen." She replied looking back at her menu.  
  
"So what looks good?" He asked after a moment of glancing at the laminated paper.  
  
"I'm not sure, maybe the Caesar salad. They make an awesome Caesar here, if I remember correctly."  
  
"Did you just say awesome?" He looked up at her surprised.  
  
"Yes, I said awesome. So what?" She gave him a confused perturbed look.  
  
"Well, it's just that I say awesome a lot. I've never heard you use that word. It's pretty---"  
  
"Awesome?" She finished.  
  
"Yeah, awesome," He repeated.  
  
Despite the lively and "awesome" conversation at the beginning of the date, the rest of the evening was not as spectacular. There was light conversation, comments about the food and a general silence of the rest of the time. It was still a good evening however. As he drove Summer back to her home, he just sat in silence thinking. He stopped at the right address and got out to walk her up to her doorstep. She stepped up onto the doorstep, and he stayed down on the sidewalk. No one spoke for a minute.  
  
"I had a good time tonight." She began, smiling at him, looking deep into his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I did too." He replied mesmerized by her stare. He stepped up, and kissed her, touching her face gently with his hand. Then he walked back to his car and drove off. Summer went back inside, satisfied with the evening.  
  
-----  
  
"Abby, we've been through this. David is not a boy you may see. He's the type of boy that will ruin your chances in life. Take you off track and heaven knows what else. Do you want that? Do you want to give up your future for some low-life boy?" Sandy was the most enraged she'd ever seen him, flailing about, gesticulating like Seth did often.  
  
"What does my future matter? Seriously, what difference does it make anyway? I've always had everything served to me on a silver platter. Always the best education, the best clothes, the best everything. I won't have to work. I can just live off the trust fund money!" Abby was bright red with anger.  
  
"How dare you say that? We've given you everything we could because we care about you. Now you don't want it?"  
  
"Not if this is how you are gonna treat me. I am old enough to make my own decisions. For goodness sake, I'll be sixteen soon. I am responsible enough to judge the character of a person, and whether or not they are right for me. You don't even know David. All you know are his parents, and even that was ten years ago. People are capable of changing. I did."  
  
"So, this does all go back to David." Sandy retorted just as the doorbell rang. Sandy glanced at Kirsten as if to tell her to get the door. She understood and walked over to the door.  
  
Pulling it open, a voice started speaking before she could say anything. "Mrs. Cohen I presume? I'm David. I just came to see if I could speak to you and your husband. Would that be possible?" Kirsten was more than a little shocked.  
  
"David. What uh---what a surprise. Ah---yes of course. Come in." He entered the door and followed her into the kitchen. She stopped at the entrance and Sandy looked over. "Sandy, ah---David is here." She stepped forward and to the right so Sandy could see the young man. Abby mouthed his name in puzzlement and his eyes gave her a reassuring glance.  
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, I just wanted to stop by and clarify some things about myself and my family."  
  
"You have no such right, get out!" Sandy cut him off.  
  
"Please, just give me a chance." Kirsten looked at Sandy and he backed off. "I really like your daughter, and I don't think it is fair that you judge me on my parents. Yes, they have done some things in the past but the past is the past. And I am not them. I learned from their mistakes. I've never taken drugs, I've only drank a few times, I don't steal or cheat on tests. I am not a bad egg. I do well in school; I work on the yearbook with Abby. I participate in the schools' debate and drama teams. All I want to do is take your daughter out on a date. I have absolutely no intention of hurting her, or anything else malicious. Please don't look at me by the fact that you know my last name and all that comes with it, look at me for what I am."  
  
Sandy stared at the boy for a moment and sighed. He had a point.  
  
"Awe, give him a chance pops!" Seth came butting into the conversation.  
  
"Yeah, he doesn't seem all that bad to me." Ryan added entering the room as well.  
  
"I am raising a family full of eavesdroppers?" Sandy asked lightening up a bit.  
  
"No, actually it's quite in my nature to listen to other people's conversations." Seth replied smiling. Kirsten leaned on her husbands shoulder. David's eyes wandered over to Abby, and she looked hopeful of her fathers answer. After a long pause, it came.  
  
"Abby, I suppose I can't hand everything in life to you on a silver platter as you like to put it. I'm just overly protective because you are my only daughter and we just got you back from recklessness and irresponsibility. I was just afraid, for the wrong reasons I suppose that this boy would allow you to slip back into those things." He turned to face David and began to address him. "You have proven to be a responsible boy, who cares about my daughter. It takes guts and true commitment to stand up like you just did and I appreciate that. I will try to put my feelings judgments away, but I warn you. We do live in Orange County. It's not exactly the "forgive and move on" capital of the world. I'm sorry that I've caused all this. Now if you'll excuse me, there is a warm bed waiting for me." He grabbed Kirsten's hand and they walked upstairs together.  
  
"So, a good looking fellow like you from the bad part of town, and shady parents to boot? I wouldn't expect that. But tonight is a night to put away the prejudices and to love one another as our Lord would have it." Seth tried to keep a straight face but they all just broke out in laughter.  
  
"You know, we've got some things in common. The surprisingly stunning good looks, yet from the bad side of town. Women can't help but fall all over us. You've picked yourself a good one." Ryan put a hand on David's shoulder. David nodded and smiled.  
  
"He's not always this funny; generally I'm the funny one." Seth added almost without thinking.  
  
David gently took Abby's hand under the counter as the group bantered on. He'd made progress today, broken Mr. Cohen's shell. He just had to gain his full trust and respect. "How about we go out tomorrow?" He asked Abby.  
  
"Tomorrow sounds wonderful." She smiled. Being able to be with David was the last piece of her puzzle. She knew the kind of person she wanted to be, and she knew how she wanted her life to go. Now that she understood herself she could understand another person and she wanted that person to be David.  
  
----- 


	13. The Game of Love

-----  
  
Come away with me in the night, Come away with me, and I will write you a song.  
  
Come away with me on a bus. Come away with Where they can't tempt us with their lies  
  
Come away with me and we'll kiss, On a mountain top, Come away with me, And I'll never stop loving you.  
  
-----  
  
"Seth, what's with the blindfold? I can't see anything!" Anna walked unsteadily close behind him as he held her hands and led her down a moonlight wooden pier.  
  
"That's the point of a blindfold. You see for it to be effective it needs to block out all vision, so you cannot see where I am taking you." He smiled stopping her at the edge.  
  
"Where are we?" She asked still disoriented. "It's colder out here, and a bit windy."  
  
"Are you ready?" He asked grabbing her by the waist and kissing her.  
  
"Yes. I am." She pursed her lips together and he slowly took off the blindfold. She blinked as her eyes strained to see again. The scene in front of her was breathtaking. The full moon reflected in the water and it lit the night sky with a beautiful faint white light, just enough to see. Near to them, there was a small boat. Not a very little one like Seth's, but a larger one, with a deck. It caught her breath for a moment, and her eyes sparkled.  
  
"So, what do you think?"  
  
"It's wonderful Seth. It's so beautiful." She sighed and smiled turning around to face him.  
  
"Well, a beautiful girl only deserves beautiful things." She blushed a little and glanced away. "Come on let's go eat." He grabbed her hand and helped her aboard. There was a small picnic basket and a blanket on the floor of the boat. He laid out the blanket and motioned for her to sit.  
  
"This is so great; I can't imagine what you did for Summer if you went to all of this trouble for me." She was still awed as he opened the champagne bottle, non-alcoholic of course.  
  
"I took her out to dinner at a nice restaurant." He replied handing her a glass filled with bubbly.  
  
"Well, that doesn't seem like the same thing." She replied taking a sip.  
  
"It isn't. You're different people." He finished pouring his own drink.  
  
"What's for dinner?"  
  
"Nothing special, just some chicken in almond sauce."  
  
"Well, bam! Emeril's got nothing on you." She giggled a bit.  
  
"I can cook, when I put my mind too it. Here try it." He opened the container and used the fork to cut off a piece. Carefully he stabbed it and raised it to her mouth. She accepted it, and tasted for a moment.  
  
"That's delicious." She made a moaning noise in approval. He smiled and put the fork down.  
  
"You know, the moonlight makes you look so gorgeous. Even more than usual, it just shimmers off your hair and your eyes absolutely sparkle." He brushed a thumb over her smooth cheek.  
  
"Do you do this for every girl you like?"  
  
"Well, I've had a lot of time to think about it. Sixteen years, in fact. But no, just the girls I really think are special." He leaned in to kiss her flushed red lips. She met his with a tiny smile. Kiss after kiss became sweeter and she opened her mouth wider. After a few moments, he retreated. "You know what?"  
  
-----  
  
"This dress is too tight around the waist." Abby wiggled in her Victorian style dress. The costume designer tended to it, making the appropriate adjustments. "I feel like a squished string bean all laced up in this thing." She smoothed the dress at the bottom and fussed with her hair.  
  
"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." David entered the room quoting lines of the play. Dress rehearsal and he still had a few he had trouble remembering. "You look lovely, Abby." He smiled kissing her one the cheek.  
  
"Thank you. At least I look good."  
  
"But you always look good; you just took particularly nice tonight."  
  
"Go back to your reading lover boy." She ignored him as he laughed a bit and went back to reading the small script book. He began again to recite. "A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.  
  
Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books,  
  
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks." "You think we're ready?" She asked as the costume maker finished and tended to another girl. "Of course, we've only been practicing since last week." He laughed. "So, it was a bit rushed but I think we've done well. Seeing as our previous Romeo and Juliet both mysteriously came down with Typhoid fever. Seriously, what is Typhoid fever? Who gets that anymore?" She looked puzzled. "It was a joke Abby. Neither of them wanted to do it, it was an excuse." "Oh. I see. Well, here we are. I hope we end up better than these two poor lovers." She smiled and he pushed a hair back into place. Memories flooded back from their first kiss in David's room, that night not so many months ago. It'd all gone so fast, but she'd loved every moment of it. "I hope so too. Let's get out there. We've got a dress rehearsal to attend to." "Yes we do. I bid you good luck, kind sir." She curtsied a little. "And the same to you my fair lady." He offered her his arm and they walked on stage. ----- "What?" She asked beaming.  
  
"I've had some time to think about all this, with Summer and you and me. I've acted like a real fool, partially because I am not accustomed to these situations and partially because these kinds of things just make a fool out of every man."  
  
"It's okay. That's what we're here for, right?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, what are we on this date for then? Aren't you here to pick between us?"  
  
"I don't need to. I've already chosen."  
  
"Oh, I see. That's why you brought me here. To let me down gentle." She sighed and swallowed more champagne.  
  
"Let me explain. Anna, you're wonderful and smart and cute. But Summer is drop dead gorgeous, and everything I've ever dreamed of. I thought it would be a really difficult decision. But in the end it was so simple that I had to practically smack myself over the head."  
  
"Well, I hope you and Summer are happy." She got up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her shirt. He stood to meet her face to face.  
  
"Anna---" He started.  
  
"Seth---" She replied.  
  
"Anna---I love you." He looked deep into her eyes and saw her heart flutter in the moment he uttered those words.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said I love you."  
  
"But you just told me that the decision was so easy, that Summer was everything you'd ever dreamed of."  
  
"Some dreams are just dreams. Unreal dreams that are not worth living. I told Summer after the date I had with her that you were the one I wanted. Tonight, just proved me right. You're so much more than Summer, and I was too blind to see that. You're so real, and you can talk to me and connect with me. You're so cute and unafraid of what people think of you, so genuine and caring. In the end, the choice was simple. I love you, Anna Stern."  
  
He just stood there for a moment and a tear rolled down her porcelain face. After a minute, he moved the blanket and all the food to a small bench and brought out a boom box. He put in a CD and pressed play. Turning back to her, he offered her his hand and she softly placed hers on top of his. He pulled her close and they began to dance as the music began to play. The boat rocked gently back and forth in the water as she laid her head on his shoulder. Their breathing melded to the same steady beat. She closed her eyes and the wind swept across her face.  
  
-----  
  
Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight, Lead me out on the moonlit floor.  
  
Lift your open hand.  
  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,  
  
Silver moon's sparkling.  
  
So kiss me.  
  
----- 


	14. All's Fair in Love and War

"So, Abby's opening Romeo and Juliet tonight, did you want to go with me?" Seth asked as he poured himself a second bowl of cereal.  
  
"Yeah, of course I do. How can I resist a classic? Plus my boyfriend and his little sister will be there. What time?" Anna applied some mascara and held the phone between her shoulder and ear.  
  
"Well, we're leaving around 6:45. The show doesn't start till 7:30 though." He ate a spoonful of colored sugar balls which supposedly passed for a healthy breakfast.  
  
"Great, I'll meet you there." She replied as she applied a solid coat of pink lipstick.  
  
"Sure. See you in a few minutes." He finished off his bowl and threw it in the sink.  
  
"Okay, bye." She hit the talk button on her phone, ending the call. Quickly, she grabbed her messenger bag and glanced back one more time in the mirror. She adjusted her pink beret and left the house.  
  
-----  
  
It was dark as Caleb Nichol stepped out of his sleek black sedan, and onto the blacktop of the parking lot. He took his usual solemn steps on his journey through the halls of Harbor, taking a steady left at a set of lockers, a right at the next corner and finally pausing a moment in front of the auditorium doors. It was as if he had never left.  
  
"Caleb! Didn't expect to see you here," Sandy exclaimed. Kiki was at his side.  
  
"Hi, Dad." Kiki avoided his glance.  
  
"I couldn't miss the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet, starring my own granddaughter, could I?" He used his clichéd tone of voice and facial expressions.  
  
"Glad you're here. I'm sure Abby will be glad as well." Sandy faked a smile even though he detested Caleb. "Enjoy the show." He replied as they entered the auditorium and went their separate ways.  
  
-----  
  
In another section of the theatre, Seth and Anna sat discussing random topics.  
  
"You know it is gonna be Christmas in a few weeks." Anna stated.  
  
"Yeah, it is. Chrismukkah for me, Christmas and Hanukkah combined. Long story, I'll tell you later."  
  
"I'm afraid that it'll be weird because we got snow in Pittsburgh, and Newport is not gonna get snow."  
  
"Well, you never know. I have friends in high places. Have you seen Return of the King yet?" Seth asked searching for something else to talk about.  
  
"No." She replied non-chalantly.  
  
"Well, we have to go then. It's so good. Not very true to the books, but it's very emotionally stirring."  
  
"The last movie you told me to see wasn't that good. I got lost in all the translations myself."  
  
"Well, that's just because you don't have good taste. We shall change you yet. I shall take you home, and rent you videos and you shall be my movie loving girlfriend, and I shall name you Anna." Anna laughed at his creative use of a movie reference that she actually got. She feigned pain at his comment about her taste and she smacked him on the arm. He in turn feigned pain from that, but it ended in laughter.  
  
The lights went down and there was a hush over the crowd. He put his arm around her and she nestled her head into his shoulder.  
  
-----  
  
"What the hell is your father doing here? I thought he was never gonna speak to either of us again after that little scene I made at the party." Sandy asked just as the lights went down. He reduced his tone to a whisper.  
  
"I don't know. He didn't say he'd never talk to the kids, just us." Kirsten tried to hush her husband as the two actors playing Sampson and Gregory entered the stage.  
  
"He just makes me uncomfortable in my own skin being here tonight."  
  
"I know, Sandy. Let's try and watch the play and forget about my father now, okay?" They both turned their attention to the stage. A young man playing Benvolio, and David playing Romeo came to center stage.  
  
"Good morrow, cousin." Benvolio spoke.  
  
"Is the day so young?"  
  
"But new struck nine." He replied  
  
"Ay me! Sad hours seem long. Was that my father that went hence so fast?"  
  
"It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?"  
  
"Not having that, which, having makes them short." Romeo replied in a sad tone.  
  
"In love?" Benvolio asked again.  
  
"Out---" Romeo replied.  
  
----- Sandy perked at the sight of his daughter again. Plays weren't really his deal. He always got disinterested half way through. The attention span of a sponge.  
  
Romeo had just asked what Juliet's name was, and he was now expounding on how fair she was.  
  
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night  
  
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, as yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, and, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.  
  
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."  
  
David walked over to where Abby was standing in all her Victorian garbed beauty. They caught eyes and he held his hand up to offer a dance as the others were doing.  
  
"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."  
  
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." She blushed as they danced. The sparks were easy to see between the two.  
  
"Have not saint's lips and holy palmers too?" He asked.  
  
"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer." She became suddenly withdrawn.  
  
"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."  
  
"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."  
  
"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged." Pulling her away from the crowd, he kissed her softly on the lips.  
  
"Then have my lips the sin that they have took." She replied.  
  
"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." He recited almost beggingly and kissed her again.  
  
"You kiss by the book." She replied breathlessly after a moment has passed.  
  
-----  
  
They both ran off stage as the scene changed.  
  
"You screwed up your last line." She replied as they both ran over to change their costumes.  
  
"I did not."  
  
"You did."  
  
"I think I would know my own lines, Abby."  
  
"Well, it didn't seem right as to what I recall." She retorted sharply dropping her dress and replacing it with a nightgown.  
  
"I don't have time to argue about this, I have a scene to do. You always think you're right, so annoying." He muttered harshly as he threw off his mask from the dance scene and jogged to the opposite side of the stage for his next entrance.  
  
Abby tied the crisscross laces on the top of her white nightgown. She listened to his scene and then climbed the stairs to the balcony to make ready for her own next entrance. On her cue she entered the dim key light that was focused on the balcony and David began to deliver the most famous lines from the play.  
  
"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair than she: be not her maid, since she is envious; her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! O that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven. Would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night.  
  
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!"  
  
There was a notable change in his voice at the beginning of the line. It had a harsher quality to it, one wrought with more irritation than undying love. Her lines two were given in a way lacking in what they had been at first. It seemed to Seth, and Anna and probably the rest of the audience that the mood had changed, and not for the better. Sure, the lines were there, but the depth of emotion felt at the beginning was gone.  
  
The play continued on this way, its two main characters in the wrong spirit for the rest of the play until the end; the poignant death scene. At this point, the mood once again changed. It was back to the way it should have been. Something had snapped back into place. For David and Abby, that had been the fact that this death scene was so depressing that it had made them both rethink their little disagreement. The fateful story of the two lovers taught that life should be savored, not squandered.  
  
The intensity in the room grew as David uttered his last, memorable lines.  
  
"From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, O you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss. A dateless bargain to engrossing death! Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavory guide! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark! Here's to my love!"  
  
He took the bottle of poison and drank from it.  
  
"O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." Kissing Abby on the lips lightly he collapsed on top of her lifeless body. The lights went down and the curtains closed and then after they had closed, the lights returned and the audience began to shuffle slowly out.  
  
-----  
  
He picked himself up off of Abby. She lay there for a second, just drinking in the moment and how amazing it was to be up on the stage.  
  
"Abby?" He asked and she turned her head to meet his glance. "I'm sorry I went off on you like that."  
  
"And I'm sorry I was telling you how to do your own lines. It was such a stupid thing to fight over."  
  
"First fights are like that most of the time. Doing that last scene, I realized how dumb it was to be angry over what we were fighting about when these characters are dying for their love." Abby nodded and pursed her lips giving a sort of sorrowful expression. She sat herself up on the plastic wood table and looked at him a moment. "I should go. My parents are probably waiting for me." He kissed her quickly and waved.  
  
-----  
  
"Well, here's your car." Seth replied as he stopped.  
  
"Yep, I had fun tonight. Thanks." She smiled. "You know I like your sister, have I told you that?"  
  
"No, I don't think you have." He cocked his head and looked at her kind of oddly.  
  
"Yeah, I'd like to get to know her better. She seems really nice, and very intelligent. Kind of like you, only I could go shopping with her."  
  
"What are you talking about? You can go shopping with me. I'll prove it to you." He began to talk in a slightly more feminine voice. "Darling, I love the pink camisole and beret, they just work so well together. Oh! And the pinstripe pants are classic." She just laughed.  
  
"You are such a little boy, Cohen." She replied wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"And it drives you wild with desire doesn't it?" He replied wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing her against the car.  
  
"Oh yes, it does." She giggled and he stopped her laughing with a hard, passionate kiss. The kind that made Anna stand on her tiptoes and lean in. Just as she did something landed on her head. Then something else, and then the rate increased until it forced them both to stop and look up. As they stared into the dark night, they saw little white flecks descending to the ground.  
  
"Snow!" Anna exclaimed happily. She smiled and looked back at Seth.  
  
"I told you I knew people. It looks like it'll be a good Christmas after all." He smiled and brought her back to the kiss.  
  
"Goodnight, Anna." He replied pulling away and grabbing her hand.  
  
"Goodnight, Seth." He repeated. He waved as she drove away. Then he walked over to beamer.  
  
-----  
  
"So, what was up with you and David in some of those scenes?" Seth asked his sister who was seated in the back with him.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, there was this vibe--- like your acting sucked for a while."  
  
"Seth!" Kirsten snapped.  
  
"A vibe!! Seth, do you have to get involved in everything? A vibe! Good God!" She freaked out on him and stared intently out the window.  
  
"Gee, PMS much." He retorted as she threw him a razor sharp glance. "Dad, she's being a cold witch."  
  
"Whatever, Seth. I am entitled to my privacy."  
  
"You had a fight, didn't you?" He said in a jesting tone. "You had your first fight, how cute!" He pulled at her cheek slightly. They pulled up into the driveway and Abby got out first slamming the door and storming up to her room.  
  
"Seth, could you try to be a little nicer to your sister?" Kirsten asked.  
  
"I suppose, but what fun is that. I'm just pointing out the obvious." Seth smiled a little bit and threw up his hands. His mother gave him nothing. "Goodnight." He replied as he trudged up the stairs.  
  
Sandy turned to Kirsten. "What is with our kids?" She asked. "I just don't get them sometimes."  
  
"I think they're too much like us." Sandy replied. "Are you tired?" He yawned.  
  
"Not really." She replied.  
  
"Are you sure?" He raised his fabulous eyebrows suggestively.  
  
"Well---now that you mention it, maybe a little." A grin spread across her face.  
  
----- 


	15. The Warmth of Family

Snow in Orange County. Now that was a sight. It's not something that happened everyday, like the sun rising or setting. Nope, it was a rare occurrence. Seth would like to call it a Chrismukkah miracle, and maybe it was.  
  
School was out for the holidays so Abby found herself in a good mood. She was surrounded by people who cared for her. That's what the holidays are about whether it's Christmas or Hanukkah, or even Chrismukkah. Dressed in festive attire, Seth was serving cookies to the ragtag bunch of guests. There was the Cohen family plus: Marissa, Jimmy, Rachel, Anna, Caleb and even Summer.  
  
They were all comfortable. All paired up into their little couples, all except Grandpa Caleb, and well Summer. Kirsten and Sandy, Ryan and Marissa, Anna and Seth, and Rachel and Jimmy, yes Rachel and Jimmy. Somehow that'd happened. She wasn't quite sure how, but it was kinda cute.  
  
"So, how is my favorite Granddaughter?" Caleb asked in an unusually chipper voice.  
  
"I'm fine, Grandpa. I'm just happy to be here, and to be able to relax during the holidays." She smiled.  
  
"You've grown up so much in the last year. It's hard to believe you are the same girl." He stood and gave her a hug.  
  
"Thanks." She replied not sure if it was the appropriate response.  
  
"Abby dear, would you mind getting me another glass of wine?" Caleb asked holding up a plastic goblet.  
  
"Sure." She approached, smiling at him. Taking the glass she walked into the kitchen and filled it. The lively conversation in the living room dissipated as she walked away. As she poured the wine, the doorbell rang.  
  
"I'll get it." Kirsten sang as she got up from Sandy's side. "Ah, look who's here!" She exclaimed as she re-entered the room. Abby looked up from the wine glass.  
  
"David! What are you doing here? I thought you had to go somewhere with your parents." She picked up the glass and walked over to hug him.  
  
"Nope, turns out I didn't have to. My aunt came down with some kind of flu or something so we're having Christmas at home."  
  
"That's great. Come on in." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "Here you go Grandpa." She handed him his freshly filled glass. The atmosphere in the room had changed. Abby had lit up, and she was now chipper and excited as before she had been slightly interested at best.  
  
"Is this the boy who played Romeo, Abby?" He gestured with his drink at David.  
  
"Yes." She smiled. "Grandpa, this is David Ascher. David, this is my Grandpa." The two shook hands.  
  
"Ascher---I've heard that name before." He began to ponder.  
  
"Dad, let's not---" Kirsten stepped in.  
  
"Ah, well. It doesn't matter. It's nice to meet you my boy, be good to my Granddaughter."  
  
"I intend to, sir." David fully understood the authority that Caleb felt he had and respected it. He reached for Abby's hand as the conversation ended.  
  
Meanwhile, Summer sat alone in the corner being quiet. She didn't even know why she'd come. It was probably because her family was screwed up, and Marissa was here. Where else did she have to be?  
  
"Well, should we sing some non-denominational holiday carols?" Seth asked leaning forward and looking around the group. They weren't exactly enthusiastic.  
  
"Yes, that could be fun. What do you have?" Anna asked supporting him.  
  
"Well, we have such classics as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Silver Bells, Carol of the Bells and more."  
  
"Doesn't that sound exciting?" Anna proposed to the others. They'd begun to sound like an infomercial couple. Realizing that Seth had done so much for her over the years, Abby spoke up.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds great. Hand out the lyrics, Seth." He smiled at his sister as if to thank her and began handing out pamphlets filled with holiday choruses. They did manage to sing a few, but it was good that nobody else was there to hear them. After the excitement had died down, Seth went to fetch the non-denominational winter season gifts from the closet. Everyone dispersed a bit, filling their glasses and getting a few more cookies. Summer followed him.  
  
"Seth, can I talk to you?" She asked. He popped his head out of the closet, bearing an armload of presents.  
  
"Sure. What's up, homes?" He smiled. She looked down at her shoes a bit.  
  
"I'm not good at talking about feelings and all, but I'm happy for you. It's seems like you really like Anna. I can't pretend like I'm not hurt or disappointed that you didn't "pick" me, but I'm glad you are happy. Gosh, I'm so bad at this." She began to cry a little.  
  
"Summer, don't cry. It's the holidays. It's not time to cry. Okay, so maybe with your life it is, but come on." He struggled with the presents, nearly falling over trying to balance them with one hand and gently console her with the other. He took a sudden jolt forward and he as well as the presents went flying at her. Luckily, they were on the carpet so nothing was broken. He landed smack on top of her and the presents fell around them.  
  
"Summer, you're really special. I'm sure you'll find someone who can appreciate you." He lay there face to face on top of her a moment. He placed a small kiss on her lips and smiled. Getting up, he offered her a hand up and she took it. They began to pick up the presents. He picked up a small, neatly wrapped package. "Oh look. Here is yours." He handed it to her. "Merry Christmas, Summer."  
  
"Oh, you didn't need to do that." She smiled.  
  
"Yes, I did. Friends give each other presents don't they?" He asked returning to picking them up.  
  
"Yeah, they do." She replied.  
  
"Seth? What's going on? You're Mom is like freaking out." Anna rounded the corner to see them there together.  
  
"Hey Anna, we just had a bit of a present related accident. Nobody got killed though. No worries. Tell her I'll be right there."  
  
"Okay." She smiled and left.  
  
-----  
  
"Well, it was nice to see you all." Kirsten waved as most of the crowd made their way out the door. The Cohen's, David and Anna stood at the door wishing the rest a safe trip. They each had one of their gifts. Kirsten had her necklace from Sandy; Sandy was wearing the new watch that Kirsten had bought him, Anna had the pink mittens that Seth had given her, Seth had his new shirt on (which read 'dorks rule'), and Abby was wearing her new hoop earrings.  
  
"I still can't believe we have snow." Anna mused.  
  
"Believe it sister, and you have me to thank for it." Seth wrapped his arm around her waist.  
  
"I know. It's just not something you see very often around here." Abby commented bending down to touch some of the white powder. It's refreshing." For Abby, the snow was a chance to start over. A symbol of how she needed to live her life. She'd found herself, and someone else. Snow, she thought she could handle it, for one season at least. She smiled, picked up a giant amount of snow and chucked it at Seth and then one at David. They ran off the steps, picked up their own snow, and pelted it back at her. She just giggled shivering as the cold stuff melted on her back.  
  
Anna was at her side in a moment. "Let's get 'em!" She proposed. Abby smiled wider than she ever had. She liked Anna. The girls attacked the boys, and the boys retaliated and they fought dirty. Pretty soon it was a full blown snow ball fight. Kirsten and Sandy just stood watching them.  
  
After all that had happened this year with Abby, it seemed fitting the end this way. Kirsten was convinced that her daughter would be okay now. Maybe they weren't such bad parents after all. She smiled and glanced over at Sandy. He put his arm around her shoulder and smiled in agreement. 2004 would be a good year for the Cohen's. 


End file.
